This week brought moisture to drought-stricken California. Colder than average temperatures persisted in other parts of North America:

Virginia: "We have had a very cold winter with snow and many days of below freezing temperatures. Our tulips emerged after a weekend of sun and 70 degree weather." Richmond 02/21/14

Illinois: "Today is a sunny day in Lake Forest. It is very chilly. The temperature is below 20 degrees. Our tulip bed is under many inches of snow. We are looking forward to seeing our tulips sprout, telling us that it is very close to spring." Lake Forest 02/25/14

Texas: "Tulip leaves are emerging! The weather has been colder in Texas this year, too. It is starting to warm up now though, so we are looking for blooms next." Temple 02/20/14

Oklahoma: "The tiny shoots are starting to emerge after just a couple of days with 60° temperatures." Oklahoma City 02/24/14

Maryland: "This week's rain and warm temperatures melted all the snow. We were surprised to find that many of our tulips had emerged under the snow." Landover Hills 02/20/14

Utah: "We could see tiny reddish points just starting to poke up out of the dirt." Brigham City 02/21/14